Csányi said he would continue as chairman of the lender from May 1, while Peter Csanyi, who heads the bank’s digital division, would take over as CEO.
After 33 years as chairman-CEO, Csányi said he would focus on strategic tasks as chairman. Separating strategic and operative management could improve the efficiency of the bank, he added.
Csányi said OTP had closed its “most successful year ever” in 2024, achieving “outstanding” profitability, while maintaining an extraordinarily stable capital position and continuing as market leader in the region.
Since its establishment, he said OTP had acquired 26 banks, including 14 in the past 10 years, and it was market leader in five countries. OTP’s balance sheet has tripled and its loan book quadrupled since 2014, he added.
Last year, Csányi said OTP’s market share in Hungary reached 19.5%.
He said Hungary’s “special banking sector burdens” were the highest in Europe, adding that, for OTP, they would reach HUF 263 bln in 2025. The amount includes HUF 176 bln for the transactions duty, that is passed on, in large part, to clients, but with the risk that they will turn to other financial service providers such as Revolut, he said.
Csányi said lending was restarting in Ukraine and was up 20% in 2024. He added that OTP’s group-level exposure in Russia and Ukraine had fallen from 14% of the net loan book in 2014 to 6% at the end of 2024.
He said the decision to pull out of the Romanian market was a good one in the short and mid-term, but OTP could return to the region’s biggest banking market later “with a bigger presence”. Until then, OTP plans to launch cross-border financial services there, he added.
Csányi said OTP had been cleared by the National Bank of Hungary on Friday to buy back up to HUF 150 bln of its own shares by the end of 2025.
The AGM approved a proposal to pay a HUF 270 bln dividend or HUF 964.29 per share.
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